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Post by David on Dec 2, 2020 17:55:12 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.
-Rex Stout, novelist (1 Dec 1886-1975)
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Post by David on Dec 2, 2020 23:29:24 GMT
leptodactylous
PRONUNCIATION:
(lep-tuh-DAK-tuh-luhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Having slender fingers or toes.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek lepto- (thin) + -dactyl (toed, fingered). Earliest documented use: 1855.
USAGE:
“The Triaenopus ... has besides three leptodactylous toes pointing forwards, a fourth extending backwards in a remarkable way.”
John C. Warren; Remarks on some Fossil Impressions in the Sandstone Rocks of Connecticut River; Outlook Verlag; 2018.
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Post by David on Dec 2, 2020 23:30:08 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Science does correct itself...
and that's the reason why science is such a glorious thing for our species.
-Nigel Calder, science writer (2 Dec 1931-2014)
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Post by David on Dec 4, 2020 23:32:14 GMT
zaftig
PRONUNCIATION:
(ZAF-tik, -tig)
MEANING:
adjective: Full-figured; pleasingly plump; buxom.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Yiddish zaftik (juicy), from German saftig (juicy), from Saft (juice).
Earliest documented use: 1921.
USAGE:
“One year the zaftig look was in among models, the next year the waif was all the rage.”
Eric Van Lustbader; Second Skin; Gallery Books; 2015.
See more usage examples of zaftig in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Dec 4, 2020 23:32:59 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary;
men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
-Joseph Conrad, novelist (3 Dec 1857-1924)
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Post by David on Dec 7, 2020 1:36:46 GMT
noctilucent
PRONUNCIATION:
(nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt)
MEANING:
adjective: Shining at night.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin nocti- (night) + lucent (shining). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leuk- (light), which also gave us lunar,
lunatic, light, lightning, lucid, illuminate, illustrate, translucent, lux, lynx, pellucid, lutestring, lustrate, lucubrate, limn, and lea.
Earliest documented use: 1691.
USAGE:
“But it was the noctilucent clouds that made the deepest impression on [Samantha Cristoforetti] -- wispy clouds that form high
in the atmosphere and that the sun illuminates from below.”
Guy Chazan; “We Could Be Gone and the Earth Would Keep on Moving”; Financial Times (London, UK); Aug 29, 2020.
See more usage examples of noctilucent in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Dec 7, 2020 1:37:27 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Is there any religion whose followers can be pointed to as distinctly more amiable and trustworthy than those of any other?
If so, this should be enough. I find the nicest and best people generally profess no religion at all, but are ready to like the best men of all religions.
-Samuel Butler, writer (4 Dec 1835-1902)
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Post by David on Dec 7, 2020 23:06:13 GMT
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
If you have ever wondered whether the words mettle and metal have any connection, the answer is yes.
Earlier, mettle was simply another spelling of the word metal, as in this line from 1672: “My sword, That is made of the mettle so fine.”
Over time, mettle took on a metaphorical sense of character or temperament.
This branching off happens more often than you’d think. The words discrete/discreet and flour/flower (literally, the finest part of meal;
finest/prime part of a plant) are some examples.
Well, let’s put the pedal to the metal. This week we are going heavy metal. Not heavy metal as in rock music.*
And not heavy metal as in the periodic table.* But heavy metal, as in this week it’s all about metal, from day one to day five.
*Though you might see both if you wait till Friday.
brazen
PRONUNCIATION:
(BRAY-zuhn)
MEANING:
adjective: 1. Shamelessly bold.
2. Made of or relating to brass.
verb tr.: To face an embarrassing or difficult situation in a shamelessly bold manner.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English braes (brass). Earliest documented use: 1000.
USAGE:
“[Trump] denied, despite hard evidence, that he ever supported the Iraq war. Pundits were dismayed.
But his supporters love him all the more for his brazen adherence to the integrity of his ‘brand’ over minor details like the truth.”
Lee Siegel; The Selling of Donald J. Trump; The New York Times; Sep 10, 2016.
See more usage examples of brazen in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Dec 7, 2020 23:06:52 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above.
They come out of struggles from below.
-Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (b. 7 Dec 1928)
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Post by David on Dec 8, 2020 22:41:08 GMT
auricomous
PRONUNCIATION:
(au-RI-kuh-muhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Relating to golden hair.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin auricomus, from aurum (gold) + coma (hair). Earliest documented use: 1864.
USAGE:
“The amber-haired women -- palpably indebted to auricomous fluids for the colour of their tresses
-- objected to the dark burnished gold of Violet Tempest’s hair.”
Mary Elizabeth Braddon; Vixen: Complete; Floating Press; 2011.
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Post by David on Dec 8, 2020 22:41:40 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The real index of civilization is when people are kinder than they need to be.
-Louis de Bernieres, novelist (b. 8 Dec 1954)
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Post by David on Dec 9, 2020 0:21:43 GMT
Anu Garg on words
“We’re all surrounded by words like air,
and we all need them even though they are often invisible, just like air.”
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Post by David on Dec 10, 2020 21:28:10 GMT
philargyry
PRONUNCIATION:
(fil-ARJ-uh-ree)
MEANING:
noun: The love of money; greed.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek phil- (love) + argyros (silver). Ultimately from the Indo-European root arg-
(to shine; white) that is also the source of argue (from Latin arguere, to make clear),
argillaceous (clayey), and French argent (money). The word also appears in the chemical symbol for silver (Ag)
and in the name of the country Argentina (where flows Rio de la Plata, Spanish for “river of silver”). Earliest documented use: 1529.
USAGE:
“The Popes (labouring daily more and more with this incurable disease of philargyry).”
William Lambarde; A Perambulation of Kent; Henrie Middleton; 1576.
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Post by David on Dec 10, 2020 21:28:53 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The mind is its own place, and in itself /
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
-John Milton, poet (9 Dec 1608-1674)
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Post by David on Dec 10, 2020 21:30:03 GMT
tinpot
PRONUNCIATION:
(TIN-pot)
MEANING:
adjective: Unimportant; of little worth.
ETYMOLOGY:
Alluding to a tin pot, in quality or sound, broadly from a reference to tin as a base metal compared to precious metals.
Earliest documented use: 1838.
USAGE:
“Every little prince and duke and archbishop up there is a lord of his own domain,
with a tinpot army and his own coins and postage stamps and custom inspectors.”
Harry Turtledove; Through Darkest Europe; Tom Doherty Associates; 2018.
See more usage examples of tinpot in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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